The billionaire behind cult-favourite drink La Croix has reportedly faced 2 sexual misconduct lawsuits from pilots who flew with him on the beverage company's jet

Nick Caporella, the billionaire CEO of La Croix’s parent company, National Beverage, has faced two lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct over the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Two pilots who flew as Caporella’s co-pilots on the beverage company’s private jet said that the CEO touched them inappropriately on more than 30 occassions.

Caporella and National Beverage denied the allegations of inappropriate touching.

The CEO of National Beverage Corp. – the beverage giant behind La Croix – has faced two lawsuits alleging that he inappropriately touched two pilots who flew with the billionaire on his corporate jet.

Two former employees alleged in lawsuits that Nick Caporella touched them inappropriately and without consent while in the cockpit of the company’s corporate jet over the course of more than 30 trips from 2014 to 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported. The pilots, both men, were hired to fly as Caporella’s second-in-command as the CEO piloted the company’s jet.

Caporella and National Beverage – which were both named as defendants in the lawsuits – denied that any inappropriate touching happened. National Beverage did not responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.

“One lawsuit, filed in December 2016 in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, was settled in January 2018, according to court records,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “Terms weren’t disclosed. The other lawsuit, which was partly dismissed by a federal court citing jurisdiction, was refiled in December 2017 in Circuit Court in Broward County and is pending.”

One pilot, Terence Huenefeld, settled out of court following allegations that Caporella engaged in “repeated unjustified, unwarranted and uninvited grabbing, rubbing and groping of Terry’s leg in a sexual manner, reaching up towards Terry’s sexual organs,” according to court filings.

Huenefeld withdrew the allegations as part of the settlement.

The other pilot, Vincent Citrullo, told The Journal he stands by his allegations of unwanted touching on 14 flights “100%.”